Thursday 25 August 2016

The earth moved.

How very pleased I am that we don't actually live on one of the faults.   The earthquake in Italy is absolutely awful; of course there have been worse ones in recent years but somehow the nearer they are to one's own country the more real they become.

There cannot be a worse feeling than the ground actually moving beneath one's feet and knowing that there is absolutely nothing you can do and nowhere you can go.

At least one hopes that a rebuilding programme and aid for the survivors will start immediately, unlike some of the quakes in the Far East where there is still chaos.

After several pleasant warm sunny days the sun has never emerged today - it has been cloudy and misty all day.   The straw in the two fields opposite, straw left after the crop was harvested for whole crop, was tossed in the sun yesterday and I expect the farm expected to bale it up today.   But no such luck, rain overnight means that it is now as wet as ever it was.

Speaking of farming, Rachel (Rachel in the Ukraine on my blog roll) gave a jolly interesting commentary on the crops in her area of East Anglia, which made fascinating reading to us up here in a grassy area with next to no arable land.   If you haven't read it, do go over to her blog and read it.

17 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...
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Derek Faulkner said...
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Mary said...

I loved reading Rachel's 'farm story' - thanks for the heads up Pat.
She's a very interesting woman - I've seen her comments on John's blog!

Hope the sun comes back soon and dries the harvest - we're back in full sun and 90F - I'd send some your way airmail if possible!

Hugs - Mary

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I just went over to Rachel's blog and found it interesting. We are in rural Ontario and there are some similarities with what is grown in the fields. Right now we have corn around us. On a different note, I heard about the aftershocks that Italy is suffering today. Unbelievable. -Jenn

Yorkshire Pudding said...

It is strange how disasters on our doorstep have more emotional resonance than those that happen faraway. Of course this is partly down to how the media report things.

Heather said...

I think the weather is supposed to improve again - I hope so as our back lawn has grown quite a lot in the past week and I was going to cut it today but we had similar weather to yours.
Earthquakes were my nightmare as a child and I would be terrified to experience one, however mild.

Fairtrader said...

Its strange for instance how quickly we forgot about Haiti, but the truth is that not much has happend there since the quake. But as you said, Yorkshire Pudding, its not on our doorstep so.. I think we actually get worn out by all the disasters and terrible pictures media pours over us, so much that we mentally turn off and turn away. Not because we don't care but because we get mentally tired by things we can't personally deal with. In Italy they have bad experience of rebuilding after earthquakes, they know its no use expecting any greater help even when the worst turmoil is over. Poor souls.

Derek Faulkner said...

80 degrees in my lounge at 05.00 this morning and 29 degrees this afternoon - the drought continues.

Maria said...

I've experienced the Northern Italy's earthquake of 1976. Terrible.
Greetings Maria x

Sue said...

There is a long history of earthquakes in Italy. Such a devastating event. Those poor families waiting for news of their loved ones.

Gwil W said...

i often think of the Haiti earthquake even today. I'm not sure of the Clintons role in the aftermath, but I recall a bishop saying it was god's revenge for voodoo.

angryparsnip said...

When I lived in Laguna Beach California we had earthquakes quite often. The worst one for us was the one in Palm Spring. The huge iron chandelier was swinging back and forth in our condo. . We went outside and sat on the 7th green of the golf course, with lots of other people.

Rachel Phillips said...

I remember Skopje. When I went and looked four years ago I found they had rebuilt the city in concrete like multi-storey car parks and nothing old had been restored. That was in the Communist era. I was just watching a programme about tsunamis and it was believed that they were punishment from the gods. We must bear this in mind. Thank you for mentioning the farming lesson, I am sure it will make your readers happy. Tonight's post is a Russian lesson.

Frances said...

Earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados, forest fires, tsunames seem to be more frequent than ever. There is a part of me that would like to experience an earthquake, but perhaps only in my dreams. The devastation I see around the world on television news is horrifying. And then, there's also what we do to each other.

Having typed that, I am glad to also type that several people were very helpful to me today. I want to include those experiences in the mix.

xo

The Furry Gnome said...

You've got some interesting blogs on your blogroll.

Cro Magnon said...

A very good friend of mine was killed in the 2009 earthquake in Aquila. I do hope she was killed outright; but one doesn't know. I would hate to think that she suffered under all that rubble.

Librarian said...

A dear old friend of my Mum's was killed in the tsunami at Christmas 2004 (I believe it was that year) while saving his wife. That is the closest I ever personally got to suffering from a natural disaster.
When my husband was still alive - therefore, it must have been before 2009 -, one night here in Germany we had a (minor) earthquake. I woke up from it and was so scared I couldn't get back to sleep for hours, although no damage was done in our immediate neighbourhood. It was just plain scary and I don't ever want to experience that again.
One of the blogs I follow is by a lady in New Zealand. She often reports about the rebuilding of Christchurch, and the effect the big devastating earthquake of some years ago still has on the people there (including herself). I can only admire those who stayed and are rebuilding their lives and their city!